Hair curl drying apparatus



y 1967 s. HLUBIK 3,319,350

HAIR CURL DRYING APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1963 FIG. 1

INVENTOR. SIMON HLUBIK ATTORNEY 3,319,350 HAHR CURL DRYING APPARATU Simon Hlubik, Ridgetield, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed June 21, 1963, Ser. No. 289,638 3 Claims. (Cl. 34-97) This invention relates to an apparatus for drying a curl of hair wound on a curler.

In recent years, personal hair dryers have become very popular, particularly the type including a source of heated air, a large flexible bonnet to be placed over the hair on the users head, and a flexible hose connecting the source to the bonnet. In a typical operation for such a hair dryer, the hair is washed, wound on curlers and subsequently dried beneath the bonnet of the hair dryer. Although such use of a hair dryer has been found to be very convenient when many curls are to be formed and dried, there are frequent situations in which a user may wish to form only one or two curls without washing the hair or may wish to quickly touch-up one or two existing curls. In such situations, the large flexible bonnet placed over the entire head of hair is not completely satisfactory in that this is an ineflicient way to dry one curl and thus the drying time is objectionably long; and in the meantime the remaining hair that was not wet is becoming undesirably dry. Moreover, it is somewhat inconvenient to have to place the bonnet over the entire head of hair and it is quite likely that the hair not wound on curlers will become disarrayed in installing and removing the bonnet.

From the foregoing discussion, it will be appreciated that a need exists for apparatus capable of quickly and conveniently drying a curl of hair wound on a curler and it is a primary object of this invention to provide such apparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a convenient and inexpensive device to be used with a portable hair dryer for simply enclosing a curl of hair to obtain rapid drying of the curl.

Briefly stated, the hair curl drying apparatus of the invention includes a source of forced drying air connected to a device which facilitates the drying of a curl of hair by directing air in and around the curl. The air directing device is a hollow member sufliciently large to enclose a hair curler of a size as large as the vast majority of conventional hair curlers currently being marketed. In operation, the hollow member is slipped over the curler with hair wound thereon and the hair connecting the curl to the users head is received within a slot formed in the member. With the device in place, heated air furnished by the hair dryer is directed to flow in and around the curl of hair to quickly dry the curl. After the curl has been adequately dried, the air directing device may be easily withdrawn and the operation repeated on any other curls to be dried.

The air directing device is particularly suited for use with a portable hair dryer of the type including a flexible air delivery hose in that the hollow member is of a size and weight to be conveniently held in one hand; and since the flexible air delivery hose is also typically lightweight, it is a very simple operation to place the air directing device over the curled hair.

Further fetaures, objects and advantages will become apparent by reference to the following specification and claims considered in connection with the attached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the hair curling apparatus of the invention in operation; 7

FIG. 2 is a perspective View of the air directing device of the invention;

United States Patent O FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the coupling means between the air directing device and the air delivery hose; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternate coupling construction.

By perusal of FIG. 1 of the drawing, the operation of the invention and its convenience may be readily appreciated. There is shown a portion of a human head having a curl 2 of hair wound on a conventional curler 4 of any suitable variety. One of the features of the present invention is that the hair curl apparatus can be utilized with the vast majority of conventional curlers currently being marketed. This includes the presently popular large diameter curlers employed to obtain the so-called bouffant hair styles.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, there is shown an air directing device 6 comprising a hollow member having a tubular shape adapted to be conveniently held in the users hand 8. One end of the air directing device 6 is connected to the end ring 9 of a flexible hose 10 of a hair dryer including a source of forced heated air 12, such as an electric fan and heater unit. Since a number of power units may be utilized as a suitable source of heated air, such a source will not be shown or described in detail.

As can be seen, the air directing member 6 is open on its downstream end and is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 14, which extends a substantial distance toward the upstream end of the device connected to hose 10. The hollow member 6 may be formed of the desired size suitable to accommodate the hair curlers to be inserted therein. In operation, the user simply grasps the air directing device 6 at its end connected to the air hose, as shown, and simply slides the device onto the curler 4 in a manner such that the strands of hair 15 connecting the curl 2 to the users head are received within the slot 14. Since the entire output of the hair dryer is directed in and around the curl, the drying operation is completed very quickly. As a result, the user can easily continue to hold the air directing device during the drying operation without becoming tired in the arm. In this connection, it should be realized that the lightweight flexible air delivery hose 10 is an important factor to easy operation.

Although the tubular member 6 may be made of a variety of materials, including sheet metal, it is preferably made of plastic or similar lightweight material. Lightness is essential to ease of operation and a heat resistant property is desirable so that the member may be comfortably handled by the user when in operation. Plastic is also desirable from the standpoint of being easily washable and very durable. Other advantages of plastic are that it is relatively inexpensive and by suitably designing the air directing member it can be easily and inexpensively molded in a one-step operation, as will be hereinafter described.

To facilitate sliding the tubular member 6 over a curler, its downstream end 7 has been outwardly flared as readily seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus, the aperture defined by the flared end is slightly larger than the diameter of the remainder of the tubular air directing member. The tapered end 7 facilitates the molding operation by making the tubular member 6 easy to be withdrawn from a central molding mandrel. Moreover, the entire tubular member may be slightly tapered outwardly from the upstream end toward the downstream end for ease of molding. For example, a member approximately 4" or 5" in length might be tapered outwardly from an upstream diameter of about 1.75 to a diameter of about 2.30" at its flared downstream end.

The elongated slot 14 smoothly joins the flared end 7 so that the strands of hair connecting a curl to the head may be easily slid within the slot. To further assist this operation, the slot itself may be tapered from its closed end toward the downstream open end. Although the width of the slot may be selected as desired, it has been found that a dimension varying smoothly from approximately a quarter of an inch at the close end to a half an inch at the open end is quite suitable.

The tubular air directing device may be connected to the flexible air delivery hose in any suitable fashion. However, since it is contemplated that the device will be utilized as an attachment for a conventional hair dryer that will normally also be used with a flexible bonnet of the now conventional type adapted to enclose the entire head of hair, the tubular member 6 should be provided with suitable means by which the member may be conveniently releasably attached to the end of a hose. It is desirable that the coupling means employed be sufficiently rugged to withstand frequent connections and disconnections and that it be simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

In the present instance, the air delivery horse 10 is provided with a circumferential bead 18 as seen in FIG. 3. To mate with this bead, the tubular member 6 is provided with an inwardly extending flange 20 having an arcuate length of approximately 240 or two-thirds of the entire circumference of the member. The flange 20 extends inwardly a distance suflicient to conveniently cooperate with the bead -18 to prevent the hose from being axially withdrawn from the member 6. The upstream end of the tubular member 6 is also provided with a second inwardly extending flange 22 which is axially spaced from flange 20 a distance about equal to the width of head 18 on the air hose 10. A unique feature of the flange coupling means formed on the tubular member 6 is that flange 22 has an arcuate dimension of about 120 and extends only throughout that portion of the tube circumference not in line with flange 20; or in other words, flanges 20 and 22 are circumferentially offset and do not axially overlap one another.

Thus it can be seen that arcuate ends 20a and 20b of flange 20 and the upstream axial face of flange 22 define an arcuate 120 slot or opening. By placing the hose in side by side relation to the member 6 with the bead 13 aligned with the slot or opening defined by the flanges, the hose may be forcibly snapped into connection with member 6. Flange 22 helps position bead 18 when the two components are connected and further effectively fills any air space which might exist between the bead and the member 6 if the flange 22 were not employed. It is preferable that the hose end is somewhat resilient ror flexible so that it will yield sufficiently to conveniently make the connection.

In addition to being a convenient coupling means, the importance of such flanged arrangement is that it simplifies the molding operation in that no grooves or other difliculties shapes are involved. Hence, the entire tubular air directing device can be formed in one step.

A variation of the coupling arrangement shown in FIG. 3 also having the advantage of simplified molding is obtained by fabricating the flanges as shown in FIG. 4. There, the air directing device has been provided with two diametrically opposed 120 flanges 24 and 26, both of which are comparable to flange 22 in FIG. 2; and with two diametrically opposed 60 arcuate flanges 28 and 30, which are comparable to the end portions of flange 20 shown in FIG. 2. Flanges 24 and 26 are axially spaced about the width of head 1% from flanges 28 and 34); thereby defining two 120' slots or spaces. With such an arrangement bead 18 on the air directing hose 10 may be coupled to the flanges from either the side adjacent the flange 24 or the side adjacent flange 26. As with the coupling shown in FIG. 2, the coupling shown in FIG. 4 is easy to form in a one shot molding operation in that the flanges are circumferentially offset with respect to each other.

Although the present invention has been described in a specific form it should be understood that other variations or modifications will readily come to the mind of one skilled in the art. For example, it is not absolutely essential that the air directing device be given the elongated tubular shape having a generally circular cross-section as shown. Moreover, the aperture in the device for receiving the hair curler with the hair wound thereon need not be specifically positioned in the downstream end of the curler as shown. Also, although the hair receiving slot must be in communication with the aperture for receiving the curler, it is not necessary that the slot be iven the exact shape shown. It should be further understood that although the embodiment shown has imperforatc side walls except for the slot 14 and the downstream end aperture it should be understood that various slots, openings or other air exhaust means may be provided in the side walls of the air directing device to vary the air directing characteristics of the device and to thereby vary the resulting air flow in and around the hair curler. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims include all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Hair curl drying apparatus for drying a single curl of hair wound on a tubular shaped hair curler with the longitudinal axis of the curler disposed substantially parallel to the adjacent surface of the scalp and with the unwound ends of the hair between the curler and the scalp extending from said curler along a line disposed longitudinally of said curler and having a length substantially the same as the longitudinal length of said curl, said apparatus comprising a source of forced heated air, a lightweight flexible :air delivery hose having one end connected to the source, a tubular member adapted to be conveniently grasped in one hand, means fonmed on one end of said member and on said hose for connecting the member to said hose, said member having a cross-section sufficiently large to fully enclose said hair curler and the hair wound thereon, said member having its opposite end open and outwardly flared to facilitate insertion of a curler therein, and means defining a slot in communication with and longitudinally extending from said opposite end a substantial distance towards said one end, said slot means having longitudinally disposed edge surfaces spaced sufiiciently to receive therebetween the unwound ends of hair extending from said curler with said edge surfaces in contact with said hair and with said unwound hair ends being solely disposed in said .slot means.

2. In a hair curl drying apparatus, an air directing device for facilitating drying a curl of hair wound on a tubular shaped hair curler with the longitudinal axis of the curler disposed substantially parallel to the adjacent surface of the scalp and with the unwound ends of the hair between the curler and the scalp extending from said curler along a line disposed longitudinally of said curler and having a length substantially the same as the longitudinal length of said curl, said device comprising a hollow tubular member having a circular cross-section which can be conveniently hand held and which is sufficiently large to fully enclose said hair curler and the hair wound thereon, means formed on one end of said member for connecting the member to a hose in communication with a source of drying air, means defining an opening formed in the opposite end of said member for permitting said curler to be inserted therein, and means defining a longitudinally disposed slot in the side wall of said member, said slot having an open end in communication with said opening and having edge surfaces spaced sufficiently to receive therebetween the unwound end of hair extending from said curler with said edge surfaces in contact with said hair and with said unwound hair ends being solely disposed in said slot.

3. Hair curl drying apparatus for drying a curl of hair wound on a tubular shaped hai-r curler with the longitudinal axis of the curler disposed substantially parallel to the adjacent surface of the scalp and with the unwound ends of the hair between the curler and the scalp extending from said curler along a line disposed longitudinally of said curler and having a length substantially the same as the longitudinal length of said curl, said apparatus including a source of forced drying air, an air directing device comprising a tubular member which is sufliciently large to fully enclose said hair curler and the hair Wound thereon, means formed on one end of said member for connecting the member to said source of drying air, means defining an aperture formed in the other end of said member permitting said curler to be inserted therein, and means defining an opening in said member communicating with said aperture and extending longitudinally of said member an amount at least equal to the longitudinal length of said curl, said opening having two edge surfaces spaced apart an amount sufficient to receive therebetween the unwound ends of hair extending from said curler with said edge surfaces in contact with said hair and with said unwound hair ends being solely disposed in said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 270,323 1/ 18 83 Mann 285-401 1,474,586 11/1923 Hanrahan 285-1 1,969,300 8/1934 Eberhard 132-361 2,051,579 8/1936 Slavick 132-337 2,150,504 3/1939 Hobbs 132-361 2,156,687 5/1939 Grabner 34-97 X 2,189,430 2/ 1940 McClure 34-99 2,455,544 12/1948 Yonkers 285-7 2,456,669 12/1948 Bauer 34-99 2,618,864 11/1952 ONeil 34-90 FOREIGN PATENTS 977,300 11/1950 France.

348,789 10/ 1960 Switzerland.

MARTIN P. SCHWADRON, Primary Exantz'ner.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, WILLIAM F. ODEA,

Examiners.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., F. E. DRUMMOND,

B. L. ADAMS, Assistant Examiners. 

1. HAIR CURL DRYING APPARATUS FOR DRYING A SINGLE CURL OF HAIR WOUND ON A TUBULAR SHAPED HAIR CURLER WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE CURLER DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE ADJACENT SURFACE OF THE SCALP AND WITH THE UNWOUND ENDS OF THE HAIR BETWEEN THE CURLER AND THE SCALP EXTENDING FROM SAID CURLER ALONG A LINE DISPOSED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID CURLER AND HAVING A LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AS THE LONGITUDINAL LENGTH OF SAID CURL, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A SOURCE OF FORCED HEATED AIR, A LIGHTWEIGHT FLEXIBLE AIR DELIVERY HOSE HAVING ONE END CONNECTED TO THE SOURCE, A TUBULAR MEMBER ADAPTED TO BE CONVENIENTLY GRASPED IN ONE HAND, MEANS FOMED ON ONE END OF SAID MEMBER AND ON SAID HOSE FOR CONNECTING THE MEMBER TO SAID HOSE, SAID MEMBER HAVING A CROSS-SECTION SUFFICIENTLY LARGE TO FULLY ENCLOSE SAID HAIR CURLER AND THE HAIR WOUND THEREON, SAID MEMBER HAVING ITS OPPOSITE END OPEN AND OUTWARDLY FLARED TO FACILITATE INSERTION OF A CURLER THEREIN, AND MEANS DEFINING A SLOT IN COMMUNICATION WITH AND LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FROM SAID OPPOSITE END A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE TOWARDS SAID ONE END, SAID SLOT MEANS HAVING LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED EDGE SURFACES SPACED SUFFICIENTLY TO RECEIVE THEREBETWEEN THE UNWOUND ENDS OF HAIR EXTENDING FROM SAID CURLER WITH SAID EDGE SURFACES IN CONTACT WITH SAID HAIR AND WITH SAID UNWOUND HAIR ENDS BEING SOLELY DISPOSED IN SAID SLOT MEANS. 